Legal advice for airlines on Digital Transformation and IT outsourcing projects
Mitigate risks when migrating to a new passenger services system (PSS) and procuring new IT solutions and technologies
VWV is a full service UK based law firm with a specialist IT aviation sector team, advising airlines around the globe on their business critical projects for the migration of legacy systems and procurement of new IT solutions and technologies and global distribution systems.
As a specialist provider of legal services to the sector, we have an expert understanding of the business priorities and opportunities represented by these new IT solutions and technologies. Our knowledge of the sector and airline IT solutions enables us to offer practical but robust advice to mitigate the potential risks for an airline when contracting for new passenger services systems (PSS) and IT solutions, and to support an airline’s growth and wider business and distribution strategies.
Why Choose VWV?
The team at VWV has extensive experience in advising airlines on the outsourcing of their PSS and procurement of other IT systems, including NDC, Digital, E-commerce and Revenue Management solutions, to the likes of Amadeus, Sabre, Hitit, Radixx and IBS. We know and understand the PSS and IT offerings of these vendors and the key legal and commercial issues that arise in these projects. We work closely with our airline clients’ in-house legal and commercial teams and appointed consultants to close these projects, usually in short timescales. We also advise our airline clients on their GDS agreements and distribution arrangements.
Furthermore:
- We understand the technical aspects, the jargon and the practical demands within the sector.
- We believe in ‘joined up thinking’ and so recognise that the legal solution will be only one part of the wider picture.
- We offer proactive advice to ensure that the most cost and time effective solutions are selected.
- We offer our clients simple, transparent and easy to understand fee structures. That way you will know upfront exactly how much it will cost to complete your project.
- We can be as involved in the procurement process as clients require, from leading the legal negotiations to supporting client legal teams in the background on key legal issues.
We have long standing relationships with many of our airline clients, continuing to support and advise our clients throughout the life of the IT contract. This includes contract management such as dealing with change requests, contract variations and procuring additional IT solutions, as well as assistance in resolving contract disputes.
More recently, with many IT vendor's moving their services and solutions from hosted platforms to the "cloud", we have been heavily involved in advising our clients on the legal and contractual implications with this change, and supporting their project to migrate the services and update their contracts. Our specialist technology team are also heavily involved with advising clients on the use and implementation of new and innovative technologies including AI and machine learning, with the benefits and risks that such software tools bring.
Key Contact
Our IT aviation practice is led by James Barr, a Partner in the Commercial and IT Team at VWV. James acts for a number of airlines and has over 12 years’ experience in advising airlines on the outsourcing of PSS and procurement of new IT solutions and technologies. He has worked on many significant PSS projects, including one of the largest PSS outsourcing projects, in excess of $900 million. Additionally, James regularly attends the annual T2RL PSS conference.
Our Airline Clients
We act for and have experience in working with clients around the globe including those from:
- Central and South America
- China
- Europe
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Malaysia
- Polynesia
- UK and Ireland
We are used to advising on international multi-jurisdictional contracts.
Aerospace and Defence
VWV also has the experience and expertise to deal with a whole range of commercial and legal issues affecting the wider aerospace and defence sector. We advise on topics which are of crucial importance to the sector including clusters and business alliances, partnering and outsourcing transactions, PFI and other government projects, defence procurement, commercial contracting, supply chain management and the resolution of disputes.